Ball-bearing for wheels, &amp;c.



No. 680,64l. Patented Aug. I3, 1901. I

J. J. CLARKE.

BALL BEARING FOR WHEELS, 8L0.

(Application filed on. 18, 1900.

(No ModelJ I THE'IJORRIS mas co, wm'ouwa. W'ASFXNGTON, n. c.

UNLTED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOHN J. CLARKE, OF \VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR OF' TWVO-THIRDS TO \VILLIAM J. HENDRICKS, OF SAME PLACE, AND EDXVARD Y. BRADY, OF MUNCIE, INDIANA.

BALL-BEARING FOR WHEELS, 84,0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 680,641, dated August 13, 1901. Application filed October 18, 1900. Serial No. 33,473. (No model.)

To 2072,0122, it may concern: and also to provide a housing 6 for recep Be it known that 1, JOHN J. CLARKE, a citition of the wheel or disk-roller 7, that is to zen of the United States, residing at Washcarry the load. This housing 6 is provided ington, in the District of Columbia, have inwith straight fiat interior side walls 6, which 5 vented new anduseful Improvementsin Ballloosely fit against the opposite faces of the Bearings for lVheels orDisk-Rollers,of which wheel or disk-roller to properly support the the following is a specification. same in vertical position and prevent any This invention relates to ball-bearings for side wabbling. The end Walls 6 of the houswheels or disk-rollers applicable to various ing are struck on arcs of a circle to accommo- IO purposes, as *rotatable supports, and has for (late the periphery of the wheel or disk-roller its main object to provide antifrictionballand prevent objectionable end play or movebearings for wheels or disk-rollers having no ment thereof, and the lower extremities of shafts or journals. said end walls depend or extend below the It is one of the purposes of my invention to horizontal diameter of the disk or wheel,.thus

15 provide for free rotation of a wheel or diskconfining it within the housing without the roller without cramping or jamming in the necessity of axles or journals on the wheel or action of the rolling-surfaces, thereby avoiddisk-roller, as has been heretofore an essene ing undue wear, and a further purpose of the tial feature of construction thereof. This invention is to prevent grooving of the wheel wheel or disk-roller 7 has no axle or journals 20 or disk periphery by its contact with the antiand is arranged immediately beneath and in friction-balls comprised in the bearing. peripheral contact with the antifriction-balls,

The construction and arrangement of-parts which are all of substantially uniform size. involved in my improved ball-bearing are Those antifriction-balls that are in immesuch as'wiil make the same of easy applicadiate contact with the upper portion of the 25 tion wherever a rolling support is required, wheel or disk periphery will have a bearing as for certain kinds of vehicles, heavy furnithereon and also against the concaved under ture, or other movable objects, turn-tables, face of an elongated bearing-plate S, that is gun-carriages, and in many mechanical apsuspended rigidlyin the upper portion of the pliances. socket 4: by means of a stem 9, which is pref- 0 In the annexed drawings, illustrating the erably integral with said bearing-plate 8 and invention, Figure 1 is a view in part-sectional with the body portion of the socket-piece. side elevation, showing my improvement in On its upper side the elongated bearing-plate ball-bearings as applied to a truck, dray, or 8 is convexed longitudinally and laterally in other vehicle. Fig. 2 isasimilar view showapproximate conformity with the internal 35 ing the invention as applied to a leg of a piece configuration of the socket 4:, between which of furniture. Fig. 3 is a part-sectional eleand said bearing-plate 8 there is provided vation at a right angle to the preceding figsufficient space for free passage of the balls ure. Fig. 4 is an inverted plan of the bear- 5 from the under side of said bearing-plate ing-plate for the antifriction-balls. to its upper side. It is to be understood that 40 The reference numeral 1 designates a as the wheel or disk-roller 7 revolves the antio socket-piece, the upper part of which may friction-balls 5 in contact therewith will roll have any desired configuration suitable for its along the concaved under face of the elonattachment to the particular object or part to gated bearing-plate 8 to the edge thereof and which the ball-bearing device is to be apthence upward into the space between the 45 pliedsuch, for instance, as a truck-bolster upper side'of said plate and the top of the 5 2, Fig. 1, or a leg 3, Figs. 2 and 3, of an article socket, while at the same time some of the of furniture. balls on the upper side of the plate 8 will pass In its under portion the body or piece 1 is freely downward to the space between the constructed with asubstantially arch-shaped under side of the bearing-plate and the up- 50 socket ito accommodate the antifriction-balls permost peripheral portion of the wheel or disk-roller 7, thus replacing the antifrictionballs that have previously passed upward. 'lhustheuppermost peripheral portion of the wheel or disk-roller 7 is always in contact with a suflicient number of balls 5 for uni.- form transmission of the load from the socket and bearing-plate 8 to said supporting wheel or disk-roller. As the wheel or disk-roller 7 can rotate only in a forward or a backward direction, it cannot exertany cramping or jamming action on the antifriction-balls 5, through which they Would be subjected to undue Wear, besides obstructing a proper and smooth operation of the bail-bearing device, as is liable to occur with a spherical supporting-roller.

The antifriotion-balls 5, wheel or disk-roller 7, and the elongated bearing-plate 8 are preferably provided with suitably-hardened steel surfaces.

For the purpose of preventing the cutting of peripheral grooves on the wheel or diskroller 7 and to cause the wear on its rollingsurface to be uniformly distributed it is preferable to provide the concaved under face of the elongated bearing-plate 8 with diagonally-curved grooves 10, Fig. 4, for guiding the balls 5 in varying lines, so that no portion of the wheel or disk periphery will be repeatedly subjected to bearing-contact with the same line or series of balls. Thus the wear is uniformly distributed both on the balls 5 and on the periphery of the support ing wheel or disk-roller.

It is an important advantage of this improved ball-bearing device that there is no cramping or jamming of the parts in operation and no undue strain.

supporting-Wheel or disk-roller will not. cut, tear, or break a surface over which it is rolled, as often occurs with a spherical roller.

The running contact of the spherical caster or ball is a sharp line which will cut into the Furthermore, the

surface upon which it runs, doing great damage in the case of carpets or marble or mosaic floors when used asafurniture-caster. This objection to a spherical or ball caster is entirely overcome by my invention, wherein there'is a flat or extended running contact of the wheel or disk-roller, which will not be injurious in those respects. My invention also does away with the journals that have heretofore been found necessary in wheel-casters.

What I claim. as my invention is- 1-. In a ball-bearing, the combination with a housing or socket-piece provided with an elongated bearing-plate having a concave under face and with interior straight fiat side walls and arc-shaped end walls, ball-bearings contained within said housing and having a running contact with. said elongated bearingplate, and a wheel or disk-roller arranged in said housingin contact with said ball-bearin gs and held therein by the arc-shaped end walls which extend below the horizontal diameter of said wheel or disk-roller, substantially as described.

2. In a ball-bearing, the combination witha su pporting-wheel or disk-roller, and a socketpiece, of an elongated bearing-plate having a concaved and diagonally-grooved under face directed toward the uppermost peripheral portion of the wheel or disk-roller and a convexed upper side spaced apart from the socket-piece, and antifriction-balls surrounding said elongated bearing-plate and providing antifriction-bcarings for the uppermost portion of the supporting Wheel or disk, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN J. CLARKE.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. REA, GEO. E. SULLIVAN. 

